


Cigarette Break

by AR_Torquil



Series: Sara Ryder & Peebee [2]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Budding Love, Cigarettes, F/F, I'm Bad At Tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 12:44:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10899594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AR_Torquil/pseuds/AR_Torquil
Summary: Ryder takes a break at Kadara Port with Peebee.Just a short one shot to add to my collection of Peebee/Ryder fics. I just had the idea and could see these two taking a cigarette break and contemplating stuff.





	Cigarette Break

_Angel of Mercy_  
_How did you find me?_  
_Where did you read my story?_  
_Pulled from the papers_  
_Desperate and hardened_  
_Seeking a momentary fix_  
  
_All I wanted to say_  
_All I wanted to do_  
_Is fall apart now_  
_All I wanted to feel_  
_I wanted to love_  
_It's all my fault now_  
_A Tragedy I fear_

_\- Mercy, OneRepublic_

***

Leaning against the railing on Kadara Port Ryder idly watched the people below. The Kadara sun was set low coloring the sky in the warmest colors that made everything shine brilliantly. For the harshness that was Kadara Port – and Kadara in general for that matter – Ryder felt a familiarity to the planet and its people. Her mind was drawn to memories of the Milky Way and everything culminating up to her leave for Andromeda. Uncomfortable at the discomfited feeling the memories brought on Ryder unzipped the front flap of her leather jacket reaching for a secret pocket where she stashed her cigarettes and a lighter. A little souvenir she managed to tuck away on her person before being put under. She wondered if they would even taste right after being frozen for six-hundred years. _Only one way to find out._

Flipping the pack upside down she packed the cigarettes forcefully into the flat of her opposite palm. The sound attracted the attention of a few passersby and she half-expected a human to ask if they could bum one off her. Until they managed to get more viable living conditions throughout Andromeda she suspected tobacco products would be both a rarity and a luxury only meant for the wealthy – unless you made friends with the right people of course. And if this pack ran out, or if it tasted like utter varren shit, there was always Vetra to count on for sniffing out the right people. _The perks of being a Pathfinder._

She had just lit the end of her cigarette and taken her first puff when it was abruptly snatched from her grasp. Her head snapped to the side and she opened her mouth to tell off the offender before she realized who it was. A familiar asari companion half-sat, half-leaned casually on the railing with her back to the sun and taking a long drag of Ryder’s former cigarette. A curious expression twisted the asari’s face and she inspected the cigarette. “Thanks for the cig. Tastes kinda funny, though.” Smoke wisped from past her lips as she spoke, swirling in the glow of the evening sun. She shrugged, “Not too bad. Where’d you get ‘em?”

Ryder rolled her eyes and lit another from her pack. “I brought them with me on the trip. Wasn’t sure they’d even be any good.” This time Ryder took her own long drag from her cigarette and she fought to suppress a sigh of relief in her present company. There was a rush she hadn’t experienced since smoking her very first cigarette in her youth and she welcomed the buzz.

Peebee took another drag. “Didn’t know you smoked.”

“I didn’t know _you_ smoked,” Ryder tossed back.

Peebee just snorted and flicked the ashes from her cigarette. “Lexi is gonna have your ass when she finds out, you know.” She cleared her throat dramatically and put on her best Lexi impression, “Pathfinder, you should know how bad cigarettes are for you. You shouldn’t be adding more problems to your health.”

Ryder just rolled her eyes. Her friend did have a point though, Lexi would _not_ be pleased to find out. “SAM,” Ryder spoke quietly, “please make sure Lexi _doesn’t_ find out about this.”

Peebee let out a bark of laughter.

“Of course, Ryder, but you should know this could compromise-,” her ever faithful AI chimed in.

“Yes, SAM, I know. Please just let me smoke in peace.” Ryder sighed, but SAM apparently did understand enough to keep quiet after that.

A gloved hand brushed against her own when Peebee shifted beside her leaning back more. Suddenly Ryder’s mouth felt like it was full of sand and it was all she could do to not glance down. There was definitely something between them and Ryder sensed her friend could feel it too. It was a silent, mutual agreement to continue on in ignorance. Pretending there wasn’t this electric buzz every time they were near one another, every time an arm brushed an arm, or a hand with a hand. How long would it be before it was too much? Before neither of them could ignore the growing lightning storm surrounding them? A flirt, a kiss, even a fling here and there in some dark, dank corner of the ship, but there was always something…more. Something lurking in the shadows threatening to strike if they weren’t careful. Would it always be this way?

She took a deep drag from her cigarette and redirected her thoughts to the crowds below. Everyone else on her crew tried their damnedest to avoid the place – always finding some excuse or another to stay on the ship, or visibly fidgeting when she called them to duty. Something about making their skin itch or crawl. Not her though. She had more in common with these hood rats than anyone on the Nexus. “I know how they feel…” it was more of an afterthought but it was loud enough for her company to hear it.

“You were exiled?” Peebee eyed her with intrigue.

Ryder took another drag and explained, “My Dad worked on AI stuff back in the Milky Way.” She stopped, there wasn’t need for anything further.

“Illegal stuff, that.” Peebee averted her eyes awkwardly before shrugging it off.

“Yeah. Gave me and Scott the biggest black marks of our lives. Dad got dishonorably discharged and that was the end of the Ryders’ careers with the Alliance.” Flick. _Just like that._ Her lips curled in a playful grin, “You weren’t exactly a star citizen yourself back home.” This cloud wouldn’t hang over her, not here, not anymore. She wouldn’t let it.

Peebee snorted. “True. I always did make my own habit of royally pissing off as many people as I could. And if it paid? Even better.”

She playfully nudged her companion and they both laughed. There it was again. Was it the cigarette giving her the buzz or…

“But that’s why we’re here, right?” her friend continued thoughtfully. “Got tired of all that annoying shit back home. No use drumming it up now.” Long drag. It was intriguing to notice Peebee didn’t hit frequently but when she did, she did it with purpose. Like how she did with anything she was involved with.

 _Back home_. Everyone kept saying it, but there was no back home. _Home_ was _here_ , light years away, _six-hundred years_ away. Would any of them even recognize it? Probably not. It was all history now – hell, kids were probably learning about the Initiative in their _history_ classes by now. Nothing was the same, it was never meant to be.

Entranced in her thoughts Ryder hardly noticed their cigarettes reaching an end. Were these shorts? No. But even still she wished they were longer, she didn’t want it to end – didn’t want Peebee to leave. Maybe she would…

With a last puff Peebee nubbed her cigarette out and hopped forward. She smiled and winked at Ryder before striding off, “Thanks, Pathfinder.” She rolled the title off her tongue slowly, playfully…teasingly.

Ryder nubbed her own cigarette out and stayed. _Yeah. Something._


End file.
